Abstract
Morphological changes that occur on collagen fibril under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation were directly observed using real-time atomic force microscopy (AFM). By analyzing real-time AFM images as a function of UV irradiation time, we found that the gap region of a collagen fibril was more vulnerable to UV light exposure than was the overlap region. In addition, the degraded collagen fragments in the gap region relocated and began accumulating in the overlap region. Through real-time observation of morphological changes using AFM, we verified that collagen fibrils are directly degraded by UV irradiation. Our findings help reveal the mechanisms of skin aging.
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